Future Material Developments for Electric Vehicle Battery Cells Answering Growing Demands from an End-User Perspective
Energies 2021 Journal, Special Issue “High-Capacity Cells and Batteries for Electric Vehicles”
by Annika Ahlberg Tidblad (Volvo Car Corporation, Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University); Kristina Edström; Guiomar Hernández (Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University); Iratxe de Meatza; Imanol Landa-Medrano (CIDETEC, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)); Jordi Jacas Biendicho; Lluís Trilla (Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC)); Maarten Buysse; Marcos Ierides; Beatriz Perez Horno (Bax & Company); Yash Kotak; Hans-Georg Schweiger; Daniel Koch; Bhavya Satishbhai Kotak (Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, CARISSMA Institute of Electric, Connected and Secure Mobility (C-ECOS))
Nowadays, batteries for electric vehicles are expected to have a high energy density, allow fast charging and maintain long cycle life, while providing affordable traction, and complying with stringent safety and environmental standards. Extensive research on novel materials at cell level is hence needed for the continuous improvement of the batteries coupled towards achieving these requirements. This article firstly delves into future developments in electric vehicles from a technology perspective, and the perspective of changing end-user demands. After these end-user needs are defined, their translation into future battery requirements is described. A detailed review of expected material developments follows, to address these dynamic and changing needs. Developments on anodes, cathodes, electrolyte and cell level will be discussed. Finally, a special section will discuss the safety aspects with these increasing end-user demands and how to overcome these issues.
